Here is how my plastic free journey has started. I had been made aware of the problems caused by plastic pollution for a while but when I watched a video on how a large proportion of what we call 'recycling' in the UK isn't actually recycled at all, it really spurred me on to make a change.
The very first thing I did was buy a bunch of metal straws that I could use for house parties instead of plastic straws and buy some bamboo toothbrushes that I could give to guests that were staying over.
Unfortunately, both of those items came packaged in a lot of plastic. I have since learnt to try to find out about packaging before purchasing items online, especially if their purpose is to reduce plastic consumption in the first place
As #plasticfreejuly was approaching and so were my holidays, I decided to make more of an effort. While on holiday, I got in the habit of taking my reusable straws out to bars and pubs (although people don't always listen when you ask for drinks without a straw). It turned out to be a great talking point with family and friends, trying to get them to join in with using reusable straws and making them more conscious about plastic pollution.
At home, I the plastic free switch seemed very daunting at first, so I though of a first step that would be easy to achieve but meaningful. I went for plastic free lunches.
I came up with lunch ingredients that didn't come packaged in plastic or ways to bypass it.
For example, I made my own bread instead of buying it from the shop (something I was already doing but made sure was done more consistently from then on), I started making my own hummus in order not to buy it at the shop and I looked for sandwich fillings that cam in tins or jars instead of plastic packaging.
Having a small but consistent and real victory gave me a positive outlook; hence I started looking at other areas of my life where I was using a lot of plastic and little by little started finding solutions. I spoke with the people in my house about the issues that were bothering me, and what lifestyle changes I would like to make as a household. I am lucky to have a very understanding family, as a result we all made the effort together to find some solutions to our plastic habits.
We haven't managed to be 100% plastic free 100% of the time, but we have built some solid routines and made some long term swaps which mean making the plasticless option is easier every day.